Sunday, 1 April 2012

The True King of Britain?

The Domesday Book

BREAKING NEWS!

Abaddon Books is extremely proud to announce that the author of the latest Malory's Knights of Albion title, Dark North, has recently been discovered to be the direct descendant of none other than King Arthur of Britain himself.

Researchers at Salisbury University, where interest in the historical basis for the British legendary king has been revived by the discovery of Malory's controversial "Second Book," have been able to piece together "the most thorough picture yet" of Arthur's lineage, through his bastard son Mordred, thanks to information unearthed during the investigation of the new manuscript.

The page where the "missing link"
in Arthur's lineage was found.

"We pretty much broke down around the eleventh century," said Dr. Becker Balisovitch, visiting Salisbury from the University of Southern California, "until a chance discovery in the Domesday Book set us back on the trail."

The Domesday Book, a huge survey of every land and tenant in England and Wales conducted in 1086 for the purpose of determining tax obligations, contains many of the names of landowners and their residences of their time. It is largely considered one of the most useful existing resources on Medieval England.

"The line breaks down in about 1050, with the Lord of Metterham. We knew where he lived, we knew what land he owned, but we didn't know his name! But the Domesday Book shows the Lord's name as 'Fynche,' and sets us back on the trail."

Paul Finch: The True King of Britain?

A trail that leads, ultimately, to author Paul Finch, a former police officer and radio scriptwriter.

"There are lots of candidates still alive, frankly," says Balisovitch, "but Mr. Finch is the strongest, according to our research. If there is such a thing as a living descendant of King Arthur - and, truth be told, it's a muddled old line and there are a lot of assumptions in there - then he's it."

Finch has no immediate plans to claim the throne of England. "To say I'm gobsmacked is the understatement of all time," says Finch. "At first I didn't take this seriously, but then I began looking at some of the clues that have been around me all my life. The name of my home town, Wigan, in the old British language, means 'battles'. In addition, the river running through our town is the River Douglas - remember the river Arthur defeated the Saxons on in an epic engagement - the River Dhu-Glas? I always knew there was something there.

"Course, I'm not at the stage yet where I want folk to bow before me. That will come when we get a little more hard evidence."

Dark North is in stores now. The first three readers to email abaddonsolaris@rebellion.co.uk with the answer to the following question will receive free copies of the book:

Q. What is the name of the printer who first published Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur?